That's how I voted, VF. I'm looking for a nice '87, but would pass on that one. This one's got a bit more detail for reasonable money on ebay. I would probably pass on this one for the marks on the cheek; also VF IMHO. YMMV

I’m not seeing an EF, and definitely not AU..... The wear on the ribbon, Bust, and feather tips of her headdress, and the contact marks are making me see a VF35- Choice for a VF, but too much wear and hits to qualify for an AU.

I’m not seeing an EF, and definitely not AU..... The wear on the ribbon, Bust, and feather tips of her headdress, and the contact marks are making me see a VF35- Choice for a VF, but too much wear and hits to qualify for an AU.

The hits won't have a significant impact on grade - the grade is determined more by the wear than contact marks for circulated coins.

For this coin, you have to factor in the strike. Often, Indians were struck lacking details in the feathers - you can't use that as a single point of guidance. Compare the Indians in Photograde to the one shown here: https://www.pcgs.com/photograde/#/Indian/Grades

What you see is, in EF-40, there is still a good bit of wear on the feathers. But, there is also considerable wear evident on the bow and leaves on the reverse, and the headband looks quite a bit flatter. The coin shown here just doesn't have as much wear as you would expect for an EF-40 - which leads me to believe that a weak strike on the feathers is confusing the grade.

The hits won't have a significant impact on grade - the grade is determined more by the wear than contact marks for circulated coins.

For this coin, you have to factor in the strike. Often, Indians were struck lacking details in the feathers - you can't use that as a single point of guidance. Compare the Indians in Photograde to the one shown here: https://www.pcgs.com/photograde/#/Indian/Grades

What you see is, in EF-40, there is still a good bit of wear on the feathers. But, there is also considerable wear evident on the bow and leaves on the reverse, and the headband looks quite a bit flatter. The coin shown here just doesn't have as much wear as you would expect for an EF-40 - which leads me to believe that a weak strike on the feathers is confusing the grade.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the clarification, Jason, I see what you are saying, especially about the feathers. A weak strike didn’t even cross my mind, but then again I’m not at all familiar with Indian Cents or the strike intricacies of different dates. I also know what you mean about the contact marks, I kinda inserted a personal preference into my post- I think such marks greatly affect eye appeal, yet you do have a valid point that they won’t usually affect grade.